France Stumbles Again; Russia Beats Cyprus

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France has stumbled again in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, as it tied 1-1 with its Ukrainian hosts, in the 5th round of the Group D match.

Ukraine was first to score, by Mykola Shaparenko at 43', before Anthony Martial scored the equalizer at 49'.

Despite that, France remains in the lead with 9 points (2 wins and 3 ties), while Ukraine is in third place with 5 points.

France had also tied with host Bosnia and Herzegovina with the same score in the last round, in its first match after its disappointing exit from the UEFA's round of 16.

Russia beats Cyprus

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Russia was also able to beat Cyprus 2-0 in the Group H qualifiers, with goals scored by Alexandr Yerokhin (6') and Rifat Zhemaletdinov (55').

Russia moved past Croatia into first place in Group H, knowing that Russia and Croatia have the same goal difference but Russia has scored eight to Croatia's five. The latter won against Slovakia with a goal by Marcelo Brozovic (85').

In a third Group H game, Slovenia also beat Malta 1-0, advancing to third place with 7 points. Slovenia is in 4th place with 6 points and Malta is in 5th with 4 points.

In Group A, Serbia is in the lead with 10 points after winning 4-1 against Luxembourg, with Portugal closely behind.